莊子〈養生主〉是他技術哲學的展現。在人日常生活中均需依賴謀生的技術，這技術均需以我們的身體為基礎，尤其是手操持著工具來完成。如此，手或身體的感覺，感為我們操持工具的基礎。這就是我們身體—思維的知覺活動。換言之，它是不同於腦—思維的知覺活動。 莊子以殺牛這血淋淋的活動所展示的，是儒家道德經驗的否定，這種「為惡」是日常生活謀生活動。而「庖丁解牛」所展示的技藝之道，卻是要說明一切哲學的基本問題—人與物如何真實相遇！也就是在這樣的事件中顯示自然的活動，自然的力量如何在其中起作用。重要的，是說明「技術之道」如何能啟示「養生之道」。莊子認為人生是一艱難的過程，必經歷錯誤與失敗，以殘缺的腳來表示人是有缺陷的存有物，既已犯了過失，只有安之若命，那就是自己的命運。故人不能志得意滿，一切力量來自於道。這樣在向死的生命歷程中，就不會產生好生惡死的哀樂之感。只有「安時而處順」，隨順著時間的變化而變化。

Man is doing something in his daily work to earn his living. Man’s daily work is doing something by means of the work of the hand. Chuang Tzu wants to show the phenomena of our daily work. It is the basic problem of philosophy, in Heideggerian ways, how man can en counter the thing. Paradoxically, Chuang Tzu shows the same thing but dramatically by killing a cow. He demonstrate two ways of looking at things around us, one way is treat it as manageable, the other is treat it as the way toward the truth of the thing, and the hand-work can become a craft. The same attitude can transfer to the relation with people in the daily life, man can preserve his life, it is the way to keeping fit to the void of the relation with people.