In the past whenever I wanted/needed to view hidden files on my system I always found it necessary to use some sort of system utility. This was mildly irritating as needing a program for a single task just seems sorta silly. Then I stumbled upon: http://www.osxfaq.com/DailyTips/02-2005/02-01.ws

Show all folders/files:

Code:

$ defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

$ killall Finder
Set back to default:

Code:

$ defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

$ killall Finder