Instead of me trying to clarify concepts and my use of them (btw, by 'ontology' I mean the same as you do), let me offer a short piece by Descola, one of the leading contemporary theoreticians in anthropology - http://www.booksandideas.net/In-Praise-of-Social-Sciences.html In it, Descola succinctly explains a great deal of what is contextually relevant to what the original quote above attempts to point at.