I take it as a prime cause of the present confusion of society that it is too sickly and too doubtful to use pleasure frankly as a test of value.

West argues that modern social “confusion” stems from a kind of moral anemia: people are hesitant, even ashamed, to admit that pleasure can be a legitimate measure of what is good, true, or worth pursuing. By calling society “sickly and doubtful,” she suggests a culture weakened by anxiety, prudery, or over-intellectualized skepticism—unable to affirm its desires openly. The line implies that values become distorted when pleasure is treated as suspect rather than as evidence of vitality and human flourishing. It also hints at West’s broader interest in exposing how public moral postures can mask fear, repression, or a loss of confidence in lived experience.