Thanks for the question! So let’s say you can’t tell which statement is the premise and which is the conclusion. Let’s call the statements X and Y. This will often help: say X, because Y. Does that make sense? And then try Y, because X. One of those will make more sense than the other. For an easy example, take “it is raining” and “I brought my umbrella.” One formulation is “It is raining, because I brought my umbrella.” The other is “I brought my umbrella, because it is raining.” The second one just naturally makes more sense, right? And so that’s how we know that “I brought my umbrella” is the conclusion and “it is raining” is the premise.
So now we can try that with this paragraph here. A university shouldn’t get to patent its faculty members’ inventions, because suppressing the information is incompatible with the university’s obligation. Or suppressing information is incompatible with the university’s obligations, because it shouldn’t get to patent its members’ inventions. Doesn’t the first make more sense? And that’s why the first sentence is the conclusion of the argument. Look for the sentence that the other sentences are supporting.
Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.
