Western Civ Isn't Bad After All

western science and society [] already contribute[] to the dehumanization of human beings

On the contrary, Western science and society contribute to precisely the reverse: the humanization of human beings. The more we are freed from material cares, the more we can afford to make ethical decisions unencumbered by self-interest. In this vein, Peter Singer likes to talk about the "expanding circle" of moral consideration; increasingly, sentient beings of all sorts are falling under the ethicists's purview. First slaves, then women, then racial minorities; those in the third world and animals are surely next.