ZD,
Having a course. seminar, sermon on ethics is not sign of a lack of ethics. Quite the contrary, those who are concerned with ethics are those who have classes, sermons, seminars and courses about ethics.
CPA’s, Lawyers, Doctors and many others are required to obtain credits regularly in ethics as a condition to licensure. Is that a sign of a LACK of ethics? (This is for the DdM crowd)
I assume you would refer to Rav Chatzkel or even R Yisroel Salanter as lacking in ethics since they constantly studied mussar (yes that’s ethics).
Quite the contrary, it is those who are against public lectures about ethics who are likely lacking in ethics.