In an address to returning students yesterday, President Conant called for the development of a positive national philosophy for the United States. The talk was given at morning prayers in Memorial Church.

"Formulation of what the western democracies . . . have to offer as a social, political, and economic program to rival . . . Marxism," the President said, is a problem that should be puzzled over in universities.

Knowledge of history, of philosophy, and of economics combined with erudition, imagination, hard-headed analysis, and foresight are ingredients necessary to the definition of American democracy, President Conant said.

Components Available to Students

These components he explained are available to university students, who through discussion outside the classroom must develop opinions which will steer future generations.

"I express the hope," President Conant said, "that Harvard may be for you a center of fruitful controversy and discussion."

An answer to the question of what the goals of a free society are is "nearer than critics of our democracy imply," President Conant stated. Liberty and equality, he said, are the fundamental principles of our culture.

"Granting imperfections of the record . . . personal liberty has been preserved," he said, and equality of opportunity has been established in a practical way.

Urging confidence, the President said, "I cannot agree with those who picture us today as blindly groping for a set of ideals and ambitions . . . Our values are not only clear. . . but point the way to exciting new development."