We have performed a many-body calculation of the longitudinal nuclear (e, e ′ ) reaction employing a Second RPA (SRPA) formalism which contains the ∆(1232). More explicitly, our scheme contains RPA correlations as well as Hartree-Fock and second order self-energies, where an accurate evaluation of exchange terms is achieved. Using this formalism we have evaluated the longitudinal response function for 40 Ca. We give final results at momentum transfers ranging from 300 up to 500 MeV/c, obtaining a good agreement with data.PACS number: 21.65+f, 25.30.Fj, 21.60.Jz.