Plusses:

• The spells/class abilities
• The Levels of Control mechanic
• Optimal philantrophy plugs in the form of charity donations
• The monsters
• The way classes are implemented
• "Elves cannot be left out of a role-playing game under any circumstances"
• The spells/class abilities

As further plusses, lots of creative and thematic mechanics:

• Taxation/tithing
• Magic arrows
• The rituals of g'nash
• Laws
• The spells/class abilities

Minuses:

• Spell slots? In a game written in 2011? Come on!

On Dialectic: Having debates as an explcit part of the game is nice. Just having them amount to "argue until one of you gives up, with the DM deciding who wins if you can't agree" I'm not so sure about. On the other hand, it means that you'll be spending plenty of time debating things, which is nice. On the other hand, it's going to be hard to constantly come up with new angles into the debates - especially if the players don't have PhDs in philosophy.

Borrowing something like Burning Wheel's Duel of Wits mechanic or some other social combat system might work. (Though in BW, debates are explicitly about persuading an audience, not about finding the truth.) I particularly like BW's approach in that each time somebody takes damage, they have to make some concession to the opponent. That's more interesting than just declaring one participant the winner and another the loser.