Literature on the hidden curriculum suggests an essential meaning behind either "unintended consequences" or "latent functions" of formal curricula, but this claim is largely unfounded. Four major perspectives underpin studies in this area: functionalism, Marxism, humanitarianism, and existentialism. This paper demonstrates how in each case the hidden curriculum concept is reified and used to focus community attention on its proponents' political ideals. The dialectical understanding of curriculum in terms of power, ideology, and resistance, as the radical critic Giroux advocates, is reduced to a potential rhetoric no more sophisticated than that of his conservative or liberal opponents. This paper further argues that while it is difficult and impracticable to dispense with an educational concept so imbedded in our culture, there is an inherent danger in uncritical acceptance of this concept's existence. Such misbelief will increase the chances of hidden curriculum's exploitation by educators, particularly when trying to justify policy decisions. One table, 4 figures, and 32 references are included. (Author/MLH)