Plato's Epistemology: Is Faith a Valid Way to Know?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

My main concern is that William James' mention of faith is that of a secular nature rather than that of a religious nature. 

I'm actually more comfortable with faith, so called, in a secular sense than a religious one.  But secular 'faith' has also been termed 'reasonable expectation based on experience' (I forget by whom), which is a hideously clumsy phrase.

A classic example is that of a light switch.  When I enter a darkened room, I turn the light switch to the 'on' position.  I have 'faith' that the lights will come on, because I've flipped that same switch thousands of times before and the lights come on much more often than they don't.  It is therefore a reasonable expectation that the room with get brighter.

But theists (generally right after being backed into a logical corner and just before they abandon argument for invective) pounce on this like a starving ocelot on a distracted mouse and go, 'Aha! You're a person of faith!!', conveniently ignoring the HUGE gulf between expecting a light switch to come on and believing that all human misery is the result of a tricky snake and a misplaced apple.

Boru