States Are Locations

conceptual-metaphor Journeys → Event Structure

Categories: cognitive-science linguistics philosophy

What It Brings

To be in a state is to be in a place. This is one of the most fundamental metaphors in the event structure system — it maps the abstract notion of a condition, status, or state of affairs onto a physical location that a person occupies. You can be in trouble, in love, in a funk, in good shape. The preposition “in” is doing ontological work: it turns states into bounded regions of space that you enter, inhabit, and leave.

Key structural parallels:

States as bounded regions — “He’s in a depression.” “She’s in a good place right now.” “They’re in crisis.” Each state is a location with an inside and an outside, which means you are either in the state or not. The metaphor imposes categorical boundaries on what are often continuous experiences.
Entering and leaving states — “She fell into a rage.” “He came out of his shell.” “They entered a period of mourning.” State changes are movements across a boundary — you cross into a new location. This gives transitions a spatial structure: there is a threshold, a moment of crossing.
Being stuck in a state — “He’s trapped in grief.” “She can’t get out of this rut.” “They’re mired in bureaucracy.” The location metaphor makes persistence of a state feel like physical confinement. You want to leave but cannot find the exit.
States as places with properties — locations have qualities (dark, cold, confined), and these transfer to the states they represent. “A dark place” for depression. “A tight spot” for difficulty. “A high point” for success. The spatial properties of the metaphorical location color the experience of the state.
Proximity to states — you can be near a state without being in it. “She’s on the verge of a breakdown.” “He’s close to losing it.” “They’re approaching bankruptcy.” The location metaphor provides a gradient: you can be near a state, at its border, or deep inside it.

Where It Breaks

States are not discrete locations — the metaphor draws boundaries around states that are actually continuous and overlapping. You can be simultaneously anxious and excited, grieving and relieved. The location metaphor struggles with mixed states because you cannot be in two places at once (though “torn between” attempts a workaround).
Entry and exit are not always moments — “falling into depression” implies a threshold crossing, a moment when you go from not-depressed to depressed. But many states develop gradually with no clear boundary. The metaphor’s demand for a spatial threshold creates a false phenomenology of discrete onset.
The metaphor makes states feel external — if a state is a location, then you (the traveler) are separate from it. You visit depression; you are not depression. This can be therapeutically useful (externalizing the problem) but also misleading, because states are not places you visit — they are conditions of your being.
“Getting out” implies effort and direction — the location metaphor makes recovery from a state feel like navigation. “Finding your way out.” “Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.” But for many states, there is no path out. The metaphor can create frustration when someone cannot locate the exit from a state that has no spatial structure.

Expressions

“He’s in a state of euphoria” — emotional condition as occupied location
“She fell into a deep depression” — entering a negative state as falling into a low place
“I’m in a good place right now” — well-being as favorable location
“He’s trapped in grief” — persistent state as confinement
“She came out of her shell” — leaving a state of shyness as exiting an enclosure
“They’re in trouble” — difficulty as a location one occupies
“He’s on the verge of a breakdown” — proximity to a state as nearness to a location
“She’s in over her head” — being in a state too deep to manage as submersion
“We need to get out of this rut” — persistent unproductive state as a groove in the road
“He’s in a tight spot” — difficulty as a physically constrained location

Origin Story

Lakoff and Johnson identify STATES ARE LOCATIONS as part of the Event Structure metaphor system, which they develop across Metaphors We Live By and elaborate more fully in Philosophy in the Flesh (1999). The metaphor is one of the most productive in the system: it generates expressions across virtually every domain of human experience — emotional states, financial states, social states, political states. The spatial logic is drawn from the CONTAINER image schema (being inside a bounded region) combined with the SOURCE-PATH-GOAL schema (entering and leaving locations).

The metaphor is so deeply embedded in English grammar that it is nearly invisible. The preposition “in” — one of the most common words in the language — does double duty as both a spatial preposition and a state marker. “She’s in the room” and “She’s in love” use the same word, and the metaphorical extension feels entirely natural.

References

Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live By (1980), Chapters 6-7
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Philosophy in the Flesh (1999) — the Event Structure metaphor system
Lakoff, G., Espenson, J. & Schwartz, A. Master Metaphor List (1991), “States Are Locations”
Grady, J. “Foundations of Meaning” (1997) — primary metaphors including States Are Locations