《淮南子》一書所體現的正是黃老道家的思想體系，其繼承先秦以來道家及黃老之學的精華而有所發揮，黃老道家思想至《淮南子》始為完備。該書一般被認定為雜家，總合百家，兼采儒、道、法、陰陽、墨家等思想，內容博大精深，可謂漢初思想文化之百科全書。其說天地之理、論人間之事、言帝王之道，皆以「道」為引言，亦以「道」為歸宿，可說「道」是《淮南子》一書的核心思想，並清晰地描繪出「道」生化宇宙萬物之發展形成過程，完成了秦漢以來宇宙氣化論的理論。並以「氣」做為人與「道」之內在連結元素，主張人必須效法天地無為，以達到「精神澹然無極，不與物散，天下自服」的境界。所謂「養生以經世，抱德以終年，可謂能體道矣」。

The Huainanzi which embodies the ideology of Daoism of Huang-lao and Laozi inherited the essence of the Daoist School and the theory of Huang-lao and Laozi since the pre-Qin Dynasty, bringing it into full play. The Daoist thought of Huang-lao and Laozi was not systematic until the completion of The Huainanzi. The book generally has been presumed the Eclectics, combining the doctrines of various schools and adopting the thought of Confucianism, Daoism,Legalism, the school of Yin-Yang (Positive and Negative Forces), and Mohism. Its content is wide-ranging and profound and can be considered the encyclopedia of thought and culture in the early Han Dynasty. When the book explains the logic of Heaven and the Earth, describes affairs in the human world, and expounds the doctrines of emperors, it starts with "Dao" and returns to "Dao" in the end as well. Therefore, "Dao" can be viewed as the core thought of The Huainanzi. Besides, it clearly depicts the process of how "Dao" developed and formed all living creatures in the universe and has completed the theory of gasification cosmology since the Qin and Han Dynasties. Moreover, "qi" serves as an internal element connecting humans and "Dao."

The book argues that humans have to emulate the inaction of Heaven and the Earth to reach the state of "one's spirit being tranquil without going to extremes and without being slack, and then the world will naturally obey." This is so-called "cultivating one's moral character before governing the affairs of a state and maintaining one's morality and conduct throughout one's entire life, and one can be said to be able to realize Dao."